Opener (November)

Abstract. The thesis proposes the opener adapted to changing industrial invention, of necessity. Socio-economic forces are analyzed, tracking progress from a means to an end to an end to means, most notably in the postmodern ‘openers’ of French enfant terrible sculptor L’Ouvre. Historico-political comparisons tackle that nationalistic can of worms, the Cold War. Is the opener lever or fetish? Insider or outsider? Indispensable or optional? Literary reference ranges from Murray’s cricket trope in ‘Boon’ to Hrabal’s lost manuscript, ‘November Beer’. Includes an appendix essay on ring-pulls and lid-flips, with consequent decline of the gadget, entitled ‘The End of the Opener?’